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🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 Good evening everyone, welcome to Faith and Word, Dr. Stern. We're here to see you all here, about Thursday evening service. You all please have a seat and grab a headroom. And open up those headphones. Song number 18, you can begin the seat room service by singing. Song number 18, take the name of Jesus with you. Song number 18. 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 Thank you Father for this day. We thank you for this evening service. We ask you to please bless the service and receive our singing and help us to grasp and understand the service of the sermon tonight. We thank you in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. Let's start our hymnals to someone who is 332. A song of the 332 chappens only... Ya- pee Coal Free, 32 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶🎶 🎶🎶?? Now I say, and once you feel free, when I find my channeled being, channels only blessed bastard, long with all my wondrous power, for we do what stockings use us every day and every hour. Now I say, and once you feel free, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when 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channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, when I find my channeled being, And look, there's plenty of people in this room that can attest to that. Plenty of people that could say, yeah, you know what, before I got saved, I lived the life of sin, I got involved in sin, you know what I found out? It doesn't satisfy. Sin cannot satisfy. That's why it says in verse three that he had 700 wives, princesses and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his art. It won't satisfy. And here's the thing, is there pleasure in sin for a season? Yes, there is. You know, I'm not stupid. No one's dumb. I mean, why do you think the world does what they do? Because there is pleasure in it. That doesn't mean it satisfies. You know what can satisfy? Is a godly life. A godly life satisfies. That's what Moses said. He said that rather than enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season, he had respect under the recompense of the reward. Go over to Proverbs chapter 19, verse 23. The Bible says in Psalm 17, verse 15, As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. Oh, what's so great about the Christian life? Oh, I don't know, you're going to see God? What's so great about being saved? Oh, you're going to heaven? You're going to awake with thy, one day you're going to be awakened with his likeness? When we see him, we shall be as he is? I mean, that satisfies, folks. I mean, that's not something we receive immediate in this life, but you know, that's something that we have to look forward to. What do you have to look forward to in a life of sin? More sin. And the consequences that come with it. That's all you have to look forward to in a life of sin. Look, and if you're not saved, it's just a life of sin, all the consequences that come with it, and then hell. How is that satisfying? You know, why does the world chase after that? You know, they don't know any better. They don't know anything else. Well, look, as God's people, we should be able to say, like, hey, I'll be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. I mean, God asks us to, you know, to, you know, offer our bodies a living sacrifice unto him, which is a reasonable service. Oh, why is that so reasonable? Because you're going to wake up with a new body and a new mind. You're going to have the mind of Christ. You're going to be like God. You're going to have his, his likeness. I mean, that's, to me, that satisfies. Obviously, you're not going to be a God. Okay, let me just clarify. I'm not going Mormon on you here. We're not flying off to the planet Zoloft or anything like that. But you're going to have his body. You're going to have the mind of Christ. That's, that's something that's going to satisfy. I don't think anyone's going to go to heaven and go, oh, bummer. You know, oh, I can fly. I can walk through walls. You know, I can, I'm ruling over cities. I'm with Christ. I'm in the New Jerusalem. Pshh, man. I'm in the New Jerusalem. I'm with Christ. I'm in the New Jerusalem. Pshh, man. I just wish I had spent more time sinning. You know, no one's going to get rewarded for all the works they did in heaven. Just be like, this is it. This is what I got. What a jip. You know, no one's going to get to heaven and feel like they got suckered by God. But you know what? You live a life of sin. You're going to get to the end of that life of sin. You're going to feel like a sucker. Look there in Proverbs. I had to go to Proverbs 19, right? Verse 23, the fear of the Lord tendeth to life, and he that hath it shall abide satisfied. You know, why should I fear God? So you can live a life that's satisfied. So that you can have a life that's fulfilling. Maybe not a life that has the pleasures of sin for a season, but you know what else you're not going to have? All the heartache that goes along with it. All the diseases and the divorce and everything else that goes along with drinking and drugs and adultery and fornication. All the unwanted pregnancies and the abortions. All the things that come along with the pleasures of sin for a season. You know, part of the satisfaction of the Christian life is just it's not necessarily just all the blessings, it's just the fact that I don't have to deal with all the cursings. That's pretty satisfying. You know, maybe it's my life not being a roller coaster ride every single day. But sometimes you can just wake up and think, man, I'm glad I'm not that guy. I'm glad I'm not one of these derelicts on the side of the street somewhere. I'm glad I'm not face down in a gutter. I'm glad I'm not whatever. Whatever consequences that sin brings to you. That's a satisfying thing. I'll tell you what's not satisfying is being on God's bad side. You know what is satisfying? Not being on God's bad side. Look at verse 4 where we were in 1 Kings chapter 11. Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. I mean, he's just building them all. You know, what do you want, honey? Oh, I want Molech. You got it. What do you want, honie? Oh, I want Milcom. What abomination can I set up for you? It says in verse 8, and likewise did he for all which burnt incense and sacrificed unto other gods. You know, Solomon really got suckered by sin, didn't he? He thought, oh, you know, I'll just have a few wives. A thousand wives later. Well, you know, a thousand is enough. Okay, now that you're old, he's old, they're old, now it's like, now what are we going to get into? Well, let's get into some idol worship. Let me show you how to sacrifice to these false gods. And, you know, Solomon was accountable. He knew better. Look at verse 9. It says, and the Lord was angry with Solomon. But then it tells, and we say, oh, of course he's angry. He's building false gods. You know, he's worshiping idols, right? But he tells us very specifically why, you know, that there's more details as to what made God angry with Solomon. He said, and the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord of God Israel, which appeared unto him twice. You know what really, I mean, it's bad enough that he's building these false idols, these false gods. But then on top of that, you know, is the fact that God appeared to Solomon twice and spaked him. Twice. That's what God, you know, made God so amazing. He's like, dude, I showed up. Don't you remember when you dedicated the temple? And I showed up and filled the temple with smoke and no one could minister? Don't you remember all that? And here you are burning incense under these false gods. Do you think anything like that ever happened when he worshiped these other false gods? Of course not. Because they're not real. There was no smoke. There was no great feast. There was no all these sat- There was none of that. There was no evidence of their existence. I mean, God's like showing up twice. God's filling the temple. God's working in his life. God's speaking to him. And then he's still just like, yeah, but I'm going to go worship these false gods. I mean, you could see why that would make God especially angry. You know, beyond just the sin of multiplying wives, beyond just the sin of worshiping false gods, it's the fact that he was accountable. You know, and sin has consequences. You know, and a lot of those consequences are built in, aren't they? But a lot of those consequences are also God-given. You know, some sin you get into, it's just like God doesn't really have to do anything. Because it's its own punishment. I mean, God will, you know, if he wants to, he can add a little bit more to it. But a lot of consequences, God does dole out some judgment. Go over to Deuteronomy chapter number 7. Deuteronomy chapter number 7. Look, you have to understand that, you know, living the Christian life isn't just, it's either or. You're either going to obey God or you're not. You're either going to love the Lord or you're going to despise his commandments. I mean, Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. You know, that's what loving God is. It's keeping his commandments, it's doing the things that God wants us to do. So, you know, in a way, the opposite is also true, isn't it? If a person despises the word of God, if a person despises the commandments of God, can they say that they love God? I'm not saying they're not saved, but I'm just saying, can they really say that they love God if they don't want to keep his commandments? I mean, what if I were to tell my wife, you know, I told my wife all the time, hey, I love you, but, you know, I never did the honey-do list. When I came home, I just ignored her. You know, I didn't take care of her, never spoke to her, never did anything she asked, never paid any attention to her. Do you think she'd think that I love her? She might even get to the place where he thinks, I wonder if he hates me. I wonder if he doesn't even like being around me. I wonder if he hates my guts. I wonder if he regrets being married to me. Why? Because I'm not, you know, having that healthy relationship. I'm not saying the things that need to be said. I'm not doing the things that need to be done to show my wife that I love her. Right? That could happen. Well, it's kind of that way with God. Look, we can just say we love God, you know, but if a man loved God, the same is known of him. You know, if we love God, it's going to show up. You know, I don't have to ask people if they love God. I could tell if a person loves God for the most part. You know, they love God's word, they love the church, they love soul winning, they love the lost, they love their brothers and sisters in Christ. You know, they love the things of God. That's like, oh, that's somebody who loves God. Now look there in Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 9. It says, know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God and the faithful God which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments. You know, God's got a good side, doesn't he? To a thousand generations. Look, God's willing to keep covenant, he's willing to show mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments. God says, you know, you keep my commandments, you love me, I'll be merciful to you. God might even take it easy on us, you know, when we deserve to be punished a little bit more. God might hold back a little bit. I'm not saying we're going to get away with everything. I mean, sin still has its own built in punishments, but God might say, you know what, you're going to reap what you sow anyway. I don't need to really, you know, add anymore to this. That's if we love him and keep his commandments. But look, it goes on, you know, we say, oh, I love that part of God. But look at verse 10, and repayeth them that hate him to their face to destroy them. And then God, he turns, oh, that's the other side of God that people like to forget about. Where God says, oh, you don't love me, you don't want to keep my commandments, you know what, I'll repay you to your face and destroy you. That's the other side of God. God, and you know what, God holds us accountable. And you know what, God holds us accountable. And he holds, he's going to hold Solomon accountable. I mean, part of Solomon's punishment is we're here reading it tonight. About this wickedness that he gets involved in. It's embarrassing. You know, I wouldn't want any of my sins, you know, called out in public, let alone called out in public for thousands of years after they happened to millions of people. Right, like that's what's happening here, right? We've been reading the story of Solomon for thousands of years, I mean, it's been going on. And here's the thing, you know, God holds us accountable to our prior knowledge. Go over to Luke chapter 12, Luke chapter 12. I mean, Solomon should have known better. He had Exodus, he had Deuteronomy telling him not to multiply wives, he had, you know, the example of his dad. I mean, think about that. Solomon had, saw what, remember who Solomon is, okay? Solomon and Sue, the son of Bathsheba. Remember Bathsheba? I mean, imagine that. Solomon goes to mom and dad, hey, how'd you meet? I mean, parents, you know, kids like to ask that story, they like to hear how mom and dad met and fall in love. Right? It's such a sweet story. Not so much for David and Bathsheba. Oh mom, how'd you meet dad? Why don't you tell him, honey? And she leaves the room. You know, it's not exactly a very flattering story. Well, first we committed adultery, and then your dad murdered my husband. And then we lost that child, you know, God punished us, and then we had you. You sweet little Solomon, you. Right? But, I mean, you don't think Solomon knew about that? Like, Solomon just lived his whole life and didn't know what happened. Come on. He knew that. But did that, you know what, and that should have stopped him from doing what he was doing. He already saw, you know, what happened to his dad, the punishment that he saw, the child taken, he should have known all this. And God, you know, holds people accountable for the knowledge that they have. He went to Luke 12, verse 47, we know the chapter, we know the verse. And that servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes. What's he saying? The guy who knew better is going to get beaten worse. Why? Because he knew better. For unto whom so much is given of him shall be much required. And to whom men shall have committed much of him will they ask more. You know, and here's the thing. Just by you being here tonight, you're more accountable. Just by you showing up on Sunday and hearing and preaching the word of God, just by you reading your Bible, you receiving instruction from the word of God in your house, you, you know, that makes you all more accountable, not less. You know, so that's the warning we need to take from Solomon. That's the lesson that we need to learn from Solomon. Don't be suckered by sin like Solomon did. Think, oh, I'll have a little bit of sin. No, it's not going to satisfy you. You're going to want more. Oh, I'm going to get away with it. I'm special. Nope, God's going to punish you. In fact, God's going to punish you worse because you knew better. I mean, Solomon had all these warnings. And you know, God eventually does punish him. You know, it's in the chapter, if you go back there, look at verse 14. And it's interesting the way God chose to punish Solomon. You know, he could have raised up anybody. He could have brought, you know, people we've never even heard about around to be a thorn in his side. He could have raised up any nation. But he specifically raises up these two individuals, and there's a reason behind it. It says in verse 14, The Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the king's seed in Edom, for it came to pass when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain after he had smitten every male in Edom. For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel until he cut off every male in Edom. And this guy fled. This guy gets away. So get the picture here. God is punishing them with people that they previously defeated. That his dad wiped out. That are just gone. And God raises up this guy, Edomite. They were lucky to even be alive. All the males are being killed. This one guy, you know, sneaks away. Hadad, right? He gets away with it. Somehow he makes it through. You know why God used Edom? Because God wanted to punish Solomon in such a way so that Solomon and everyone around him know that God is the one punishing him. Because think about it, if it was like some great powerful nation that had come in, you know, and started to be a pain to him, or been trouble to him, you know, they said, oh, that's not God. That's just, you know, that's just anybody. It's like if God chose to punish America and, you know, the Chinese showed up on our shore with their massive army, right? I mean, they could just march across this country several times if they got here, right? And this is all hypothetical, okay? You know, we would say, oh, that's not God punishing us because the Chinese, you know, they have that military. They have that capability. Yeah, but what if it was like some small, you know, little African country where they, you know, they don't even have anywhere near, they have just some rusty old AKs or something like that. They would say, wow, how did they defeat such a great foe like the United States? Because God did it, right? So that's why God's punishing him. And look, when we get into sin, you know, God will punish us in such a way that we'll know it's God. There will be no doubt about it. We'll say, this is God doing this to me. And anyone who's gotten backslid and anyone who's gotten out of sorts with God and had God chasing them, they know it. They're like, you know, something just out of the blue just happens. Or they think it's like, oh, that, you know, the other warning is this. It's like, don't think that just because you got over some sin in the past that it still can't come back and get you. Don't let sin suck you that way either. Oh, I've already defeated the Edomites in my life. That sin's never going to get me. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall, the Bible says. Look up the, look at verse 23, the other adversary. And God stirred up another adversary, Rezan, the son of Eliada, which fled from his lord, Hadad-ezer, king of Zobah. And he gathered men unto him, became a captain over a band, when David slew of them of Zobah. So this is, these are people that David already slew. People that David had already defeated. Just, you know, a generation before. Practically wiped him out. And God's using these people to punish Solomon. So that Solomon would know, hey, it's me that's punishing you. You made me mad. I'm the one that's angry with you. This isn't just a coincidence. And it says in verse 25, and he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did, and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Syria. So here's the thing, when God punishes us for sin, you know, we can't just say that we didn't know. We can't say, well, I didn't know that was a sin. You know, saying, oh, I didn't know I was getting into sin. That's a lie. Which is another sin, by the way. I mean, Solomon couldn't say that, could he? Oh, I didn't realize that all these wires were sin. No, we already looked at it. He had to write all the wording. I mean, his own dad should have been, you know, a red flag for him. The truth is, you know, when we find ourselves being punished by God, when you know, the Edomites raised up in our life, you know, when Rezan, the son of Eliadah comes along in your life, and you're being punished, and he's an adversary to you all your days, and you know it's God that's chasing you, the truth is, you have to admit, it's like, I got suckered by sin. I got suckered. You know, I thought that I was, you know, six feet tall and bulletproof, and nothing could touch me. That God was going to make an exception for me, because I'm special. Nope. You know, that's how sin suckers you. And you can't say, well, I didn't know. Because, well, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Well, actually, don't go there. Just stay where you're at. But it's a pretty proud thing to think that, isn't it? To think, oh, you know, sin's not going to get me. I can handle it. That's just pride. That's just pride. Thinking, oh, you know, I can go back and dabble with this. I can mess around with this. You know, I can drink a little alcohol. I can smoke a little weed. I can just watch a little porn. You know, I'm just going to commit a little fornication. I'm just going to sleep around on my spouse just a little bit. It won't get ahold. Look, that's pride. And that's a very foolish thing to think. And the Bible says that pride goeth what? Before destruction. You know, that mentality, that kind of thinking, that's going to lead you to destruction. Because the truth is, you can't just handle a little bit of all those things. You can't just do that a little bit, because it doesn't satisfy, and it's going to destroy your life. You know, and you're going to end up like Solomon, suckered by sin. Oh, I'm just going to have a few wives, and then he's worshipping Molech. Oh, I'm just going to get into sin a little bit, and then, bam, you're being destroyed. God's punishing you, and you know it. The Bible says the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. You know, sometimes we think, oh, I can get away with it because nobody else knows I'm doing it. You know, the preacher doesn't know it. You know, my friends, my family doesn't know it. My spouse doesn't know it. Nobody knows what I'm doing. But the Bible says that the eyes of the Lord are in every place. So when you sit there and think, well, I can get away with it, you know, that's pride again. That's you thinking that you're special because the fact is that the eyes of the Lord are in every place. Look, we might never know what you're into. We might never know what sin some people get into. But does God? God knows. Because His eyes are in every place. It doesn't matter what seedy bar you go into on the other side of town. It doesn't matter how far away you travel to go into that casino, how tightly you draw those shades. God still sees you. You can't hide from Him. You know, and people get worried about getting caught by man. Like, oh, they don't want man to find out. You've got to be worried about God finding out. Because God will punish you and God can just expose you too. God can, you know, is that what's happening to Solomon here tonight? We're all reading about his sin. So learn from Solomon's example. I know there's some other things in this chapter that I'm probably going to cover on Sunday night. But the main thing I'm trying to drive home tonight, the main point is that you don't want to get suckered by sin. By thinking, oh, I can handle it. Nobody knows. God's not going to punish me. No, you're not. You're not special. You're not a special little snowflake. Now, you might be a snowflake. But that's not a good thing. I don't care what your teacher taught you. Being a special snowflake is not good. Don't be a snowflake. And the last thing I want us to understand is that how you finish is just as important as you start. And this is actually an encouraging thought. You know, a lot of people get into the Christian life later, right? They get saved later in life. You know, maybe they've, you know, just through ignorance and just through being unsaved, they kind of get into sins and, you know, they make mistakes. They do things they shouldn't have done. Then they get saved later in life, you know, and sometimes they kind of are discouraged and they kind of think to themselves, well, I can't serve God because of everything I did, right? And look, obviously some sins are going to, you know, can hinder us in some ways, you know, but that's, it's very limited. I mean, you think about like, you know, if you've been divorced, you know, as a man, you can't be a pastor. That's one of the qualifications. The husband of one wife. You can't be a deacon. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife. That's just a qualification. It's like, you know, you can still serve God. You know, you can still live, you can still do great works for God without being the preacher, the pastor, the deacon. You can still do great things for God. And how you finish is just, is in fact, you know, just as important as, you know, how you start. So that's the encouraging side. Look, if you, you know, maybe you've already made mistakes, maybe you've already done things, but you've still got, you know, the rest of your life ahead of you. The Bible says, you know, whosoever confesseth and forsaketh the sins shall have mercy. You know, if we confess those sins that we've committed and we forsake them, we'll have mercy. You know, God is still going to show, like we read, you know, back there in Deuteronomy, that He's going, you know, if we love Him and keep His commandments, what? He's going to show us mercy. Right? And He's not going to hold things over our head. You know, God lets things go. You know, God wants us to move on and live. And if you're still down there, you know, sucking air, you've still got a pulse, you know, God's not done with you. Right? God could still use you. But the example of Solomon is this. Don't finish poorly. A lot of people start out great in Christian life, but then they end very badly. Right? And here's the thing about human nature is people tend to remember the worst thing. Right? The worst experience that they had. This is what I learned in sales when I worked in an oil change. I had to do a lot of, you know, we worked at a, you know, it was an express oil change place. You had to do a lot of customer interaction. You never remembered the good customers. You never remembered the guy that came in, you know, gave you a tip and said good job or didn't give you a hard time. You always remember at the end of the day, you always remember that one jerk who came in. You know, and just was, just being a, you know, a rude jerk. Right? You always remember the bad experiences. And look, if you have a great Christian life but at the end you just blow it, that's what people are going to remember. They're not going to think about all the great things you did. They're going to think about, man, that guy blew it. Right? I mean, that's what's going on with Solomon. Like I said earlier. Yeah, we talk about a lot of the great things of Solomon but no one has the conversation about Solomon but, you know, the way chapter 11 said but, it starts out with that but, everyone remembers that but of chapter 11 and everything that he did. Now, if you will, again, look at the end there in verse 41. It says, and the rest of the acts of Solomon, all that he did, and his wisdom are they not written the book of the acts of Solomon? Which is a book we don't have. And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel's forty years, and Solomon slept with his followers and must bury the city of David, his father, and Rehoboam reign instead. I mean, you would think at the end of his life it would be like people are lamenting him but the Bible just kind of sums up the rest of his life in just two verses. I mean, all the first kings were just reading about how he comes into his throne, the wisdom that's given to him, what's going on with him. We're reading about his prayers, we're reading about the works that he did, how God blessed him. Then you get to chapter 11 and it's just like, he just blows everything at the end of his life when he's old, and the Bible's just like, and you know what, he reigned forty years and then he died. Because God's just like, alright, we gotta move on. I mean, other people have died in the Bible and it's like, I mean, they're lamenting, you know, they lamented for Aaron for thirty days, Moses died, there's just their mourning, they're taking a break from everything, they're stopping, Solomon dies, it's just like, next, next king, just get him in here. The Bible doesn't really, it's not a very, you know, it's a very uneventful death, is what I'm trying to say. You know, it's just, go to Proverbs chapter 10, we'll close there, Proverbs chapter 10. And that's, this is, don't let sin sucker you and think that, you know, oh, I started out so good in the Christian life, you know, I came from a godly Christian home, it's just going to be smooth sailing for me and, you know, I started out so well, it doesn't really matter how I end my life. No, that's, it's just as important. How you finish is just as important as how you start. In fact, I would probably tend to think even more so. I mean, didn't Solomon start out really well? Started out great. Everyone, you start reading Solomon for the first time, like, man, this is going to be awesome. This guy's great. Then you get to chapter 11, you're like, really? Chemosh? The Zidonians? Molech? You're reading these, you're just like, what in the world is going on? And then God's just like, yeah, and he died. Just, let's just get over it. And Rehoboam reigned in his stead. There's no lamenting. Look at Proverbs 10 and verse 7. It says, the memory of the just is blessed. The memory of the just is blessed. But the name of the world is blessed. But the name of the wicked shall rot. You know, we know, think about some wicked names that we know that are just like, just when you say their name, it's just like, it's just something putrid and rotting. It's like Hitler, right? Stalin. Mao Zedong or, you know, whoever. All these, you know, just all these wicked, Jeffrey Dahmer. Just saying their name, it's like, ugh. It's like this rotten name. All these just bad things come to mind just when you say their name. You know, because they're wicked people. Look, and it doesn't matter, all the good that you do early on in your life, all the good that you do, if you end poorly, if you do not finish well, your name's just going to rot. Because that's what people are going to remember. You know, and God might even make sure that's all they remember. That's what he did to Solomon. He just exposes him right at the end and just says, he got into all this and he made me mad because he knew better and now his name is kind of mud at the end. It says in verse 8, the wise in heart will receive commandments, but a prating fool shall fall. A prating fool shall fall. The wise in heart will receive commandments. You know, if you're going to be wise, you know, you're going to hear the commandments and you're going to, what, you're going to do the commandments. You're going to love God. You know, and if you love God, you're going to be satisfied. I mean, you're not going to have all the, you might not have all the bells and whistles and all the frills and all the thrills that the world offers through sin, but you're also not going to, you know what, you're not going to end your life and end poorly and have a name that rots. I mean, people, you know, I mean, I think about that. I think about what are people going to say about me when I'm dead? You know, what are they going to say? They're going to say, well, hopefully that, you know, he preached, he loved preaching the Bible. You know, he loved winning souls. You know, he loved his family. They, you know, not, oh, he got into some sin and blew it and he was a reproach to the name of Christ. Yeah, that'd be terrible. You know, and that's something that, you know, my kids would have to live with and that memory would rot. They would think about, boy, my dad is wicked. Look, and I know people like this. You know, pastors that started out good and they thought that they were, you know, invincible and some old Edomite, you know, some old sin in their life reared up its ugly head again and they got involved in sin, you know, and their name is Mud. And not only that, now their kids are going wicked. I mean, you can just destroy your whole life and your children's lives. Because how you finish is just as important how you start. You know, don't let sin sucker you. You know, be satisfied with living a godly life. It's worth it. At the very least, you know, not having to deal with all the things that come along with sin and the idea that, you know, God is pleased with me, that's pretty satisfying. I don't want to be on God's bad side. And not being on his bad side, that's satisfying for me too. If God never blessed me again with anything, you know, if he just never gave me another blessing, I'd still be satisfied. As long as he wasn't punishing me. I'd say, well, God's not punishing me. At least he's not punishing me. At least I'm not going to end my life and my name's going to rot. At least my memory, you know, will be just. You know, that it's going to be blessed because I'm living a just life because I'm doing right. That's satisfying enough for me. But, you know, the world wants to paint another picture. The devil wants to paint another picture. That, you know, the Christian life doesn't satisfy. That you're missing out, right? You're missing out on some sin. And you shouldn't be satisfied. You know what that is? That's the devil trying to sucker you. Don't be a sucker. Don't be like Solomon. Don't get suckered by sin. Let's go ahead and pray. Lord, again, thank you for all the goodness that you give us. Thank you for salvation. Thank you for our church and our family. And Lord, thank you for the Bible and thank you for the Holy Spirit. And Lord, we can just go on and on just thanking you for all the good things that you give us. Lord, I pray you help us to abide satisfied with these things, Lord, and not allow ourselves to be drawn in with the lure of sin and, Lord, and destroyed and punished by you. Lord, that we would just, again, just be satisfied with the blessings that you give us. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. Alright, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go. Amen. Let's turn our hymnals to Psalm 250. Psalm 250, birds are lifted at Calvary. Let's go to the third one. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...